Bump In the Night
by cobalt-blue
Summary: Five dead marines and two dead FBI agents bring Gibbs' team and Fornell into a spook organization that take the term very seriously. Set between Season Six Episodes Heartland and Nine Lives.
1. Act 1

NCIS Fan fic

Note: This episode is set between Heartland and Nine Lives in Season Six. NCIS and its characters belong to CBS- Doctor Cranston belongs to the Mouse, and Doctor Brennan belongs to NBC. Team 13 and Admiral Storm are all mine.

Lance corporal Kevin Stevens had just turned twenty-two, he was dating his high school sweet-heart, and now he he'd been assigned to one of the most top secret programs in the corps. This new assignment had come at the recommendation of his old CO from Embassy in Moscow, and he was glad to get it. Life was good.

He followed the gunny as the escorted the two FBI agents into the building for the prisoner exchange. Scuttlebutt was that the prisoner that Team 13 had brought back was a major catch in the war on terror, so everybody was being extra careful.

The guard at the door let them into the cell and he immediately went onto high alert. Something was itching at the back of his neck; something in his bones told him that things were not right here.

Two marine guards stood on either side of the prisoner- a short swarthy man with a hooked nose and deep set black eyes. He had a slight bruise on his left cheek, but for the most part he looked healthy. A navy lieutenant was standing off to the side looking over a the paperwork for prisoner exchange. He nodded to the gunny and said, "Everything's in order Sergeant Vincent. I officially remand the prisoner over to you for transport to the FBI."

"Yes sir," the gunny said crisply. "I accept the prisoner." Kevin had been told that this detail would be run with by the book discipline with a clear chain of command, but he hadn't expected this level of formality.

Suddenly the prisoner's eyes became wide with fear, and Kevin felt the air pressure in the room change. He spun around with his weapon, only to feel strong hands grab his head. A quick twisting motion and a popping sound at the base of his skull and his body went numb, and he blacked out. The pain of his head hitting the ground flashed him back to consciousness, but his vision began to close in like a tunnel.

As if from a distance, he heard the sounds of a fight around him, there was gunfire, and suddenly the gunny fell in front of him, blocking is view. There was the barking of a Browning, and then the sound of an alarm before lance corporal Kevin Stevens breathed his last.

"Hey McGeek, where were you last Wednesday through Friday?" Tony DiNozzo asked Tim as the junior special agent entered the main bullpen of NCIS and dropped a satchel on his desk.

"Southern California at a symposium on electronic forensic techniques," Tim said as he leaned back in his chair.

"So Tim, did you get to meet him?" Abby asked as she suddenly appeared around the corner.

Tim grinned back at her and nodded as he leaned back in his chair and propped his hands behind his head, "Yep."

"What was he like?" Abby's voice had an almost school-girl excitement to it as she leaned across the desk.

"Actually, he was quite nice, and very helpful."

"Who was quite nice and very helpful?" Ziva asked as she dropped her backpack on her desk.

"Doctor William Cranston," McGee said. "He's the world's foremost expert in computer technology, actually just about any technology."

"Did you get it?" Abby asked.

Tim leaned forward and reached into his satchel and pulled out a photo. "Sure did, Abs." He handed her the autographed picture of a blond scientist.

Ziva quickly slipped up behind the young forensic expert and looked over her shoulder at the photo. "He's a scientist?" she asked admiringly.

"Yep," Abby said. "One of the best."

"He does not look like a Greek."

"That's geek," DiNozzo said.

She just gave him quick look and turned back to the picture. "He's quite handsome."

"Not your type, Ziva," Tim said.

"How do you know what my type is, McGee?" she asked.

"Maybe I should say, you're not his type," Tim told her. "More like you'd have to fight off his husband."

"Ahh," Ziva said. "You are right, Abby."

"Right about what?" Tim asked.

"All the good ones are either married or gay," Ziva said. "Or in his case, both."

"Did you get anything for the agency's money other than a pin up, McGee" Gibbs asked entering the bullpen and opening his gun-safe.

"Actually, I did boss. I got some upgrades on our face recognition software that'll make anything the FBI's got look like an etch-a-sketch, and Doctor Cranston agreed to let me beta some hard-drive reconstruction software he's working on. It should do the job in half the time of anything else we've got; as well as a new three-D holographic crime scene reconstruction tank that rivals the one that Doctor Brennan has over at the Jeffersonian."

Gibbs stopped and looked at McGee appreciatively and said, "Good to hear, McGee." He waited just a second and then said, "Now grab your gear. We've got five dead marines, a navy lieutenant in a coma and a dead terrorist over at Little Creek."

"I'll gas the van," McGee said beating Tony to the question as he grabbed his weapon.

"No, let Tony do that. You go down and get Ducky and Palmer. Tell them to meet us in the garage."

"Garage?"

"Garage, McGee," Gibbs said. "The facility is on lock-down and we all have to go in together."

"On it, boss," McGee said heading toward the elevators.

"Must be a high value target to lock down the whole facility," Ziva said.

"The highest," Gibbs replied.

"We knew we had a leak on the FBI side of this operation," Admiral Storm was telling the team as she escorted them into the building. She was a tall handsome woman in her late forties or early fifties. Her raven black hair was only just now starting to show signs of gray, and only her eyes bespoke age and experience. "We ran a bait and switch on the leak, but...,"

"It didn't fool them," Gibbs offered.

"No, it fooled them all right. It's just that they sank the boat out of revenge," she said.

"I don't understand," Ziva asked.

"We set up two teams, an Alpha Team and a Bravo Team. The only people who knew where Zahid was going was the agent in charge and his second in command- men my people had vetted personally. We were expecting a brea- out attempt during the transfer between the base and the FBI safe house. What we weren't expecting was an attack here in the base itself."

"So Zahid wasn't killed?" McGee asked.

The woman shook her head and checked her watch, "No, he got his oranges at Gitmo about half an hour ago. The FBI ringer, however was a different story."

"So what happened?" Gibbs asked.

"We put a ringer in one cell while we transferred Zahid to in another manner." She gave Gibbs a meaningful look as they made their way deeper into the bowels of the secure building. "I'm sure you understand that we're loathe to give out information on how we actually managed to move him; and unless it's germane to the investigation, we'd rather keep it that way."

"For now, we'll not worry about it, Admiral," Gibbs replied.

"Anyway, somehow the assassin penetrated the base, and when he discovered that the ringer wasn't Zahid, he killed almost everyone in the room except Lieutenant Giles, and we're not sure he's going to make it."

"How?" Gibbs asked.

"Hand-to-hand, agent Gibbs."

"You're telling me he overpowered five armed marines, a naval officer, and trained FBI agent?" Gibbs asked incredulously.

"He overpowered five marines two armed FBI agents, one unarmed FBI agent, and an armed navy lieutenant, who seems to have been the only one to get a shot off," Admiral Storm told him.

"Krav Maga?" Ziva asked as the Admiral gestured toward an open door.

"Krav Maga is not the begin all and end all of hand to hand combat, Special Agent David," a male voice commented. The team turned as one to see a trio of people standing in one corner of the room. The middle man; tall and in his late forties with close-cropped hair and a prominent hooked nose had spoken. He had the look of someone who was capable of doing serious violence if provoked. Next to him was a huge bear of a man that looked like a walking wall of red-headed muscle. His jade green eyes had the look of a predator in them. On the other side was a short beautiful woman with white blonde hair and ice blue eyes. Both looked to be in their early twenties, and all were dressed in urban BDUs. The man who had spoken had an Israeli flag on his shoulder, the woman a British flag. Only the red-head wore American insignia.

"And which combat technique would you suggest as such?" Ziva asked.

"The one that works best for the situation," the red-head said.

Ziva looked him up and down, clearly taking his measure. "And you are?"

"This is Team 13," Admiral Storm said. Indicating the man wearing the Israeli patch, she continued, "Colonel Yehu Bin Solis is in command."

"These are Commander's Robin Greenbough and Emory Northmore," Bin Solis introduced his team.

"Emory Northmore?" Ducky asked from behind them as he pushed his way past Gibbs.

"Uncle Donald!" the woman said and walked quickly over to the ME and hugged him. "It's good to see you!"

"Uncle Donald?" DiNozzo and Ziva mouthed to each other.

"It's good to see you again, Emory. The last I heard you were getting married, and giving up all this MI-6 none-sense."

She gently kissed him on the cheek and said, "Right after this mess is cleaned up, Uncle Donald. You should be getting your invitation soon."

"I shall endeavor to be there." He looked around at the bodies of the marines and FBI agents lying on the floor. "After I deal with this unpleasantness."

"McGee, check out the security tapes," Gibbs indicated the camera in the upper corner of the room. "DiNozzo, see if you can find out how the assassin gained entrance to a secure facility. Ziva, you interview Team 13."

"On it, boss," McGee said as he headed over to Admiral Storm. "I'll need to see the security tapes, Admiral."

"Of course, if you'll follow me, Agent McGee."

DiNozzo followed him out of the door and down the hall.

"Special Agent Gibbs, do you think I could get Special Agent McGee's autograph when this investigation is over. I have all of his books. They're really quite good," Commander Northmore asked.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and turned back to Ziva, "Agent David, find a room and start interviewing."

"Interrogation 4 is open," Colonel Bin Solis said.

Ziva raised an eyebrow and asked, "Israeli army?"

"Mossad, retired," he replied.

She stopped, "One does not retire from Mossad, one gets retired."

"Unless one is the one that used to do the retiring," Bin Solis said. "Director David has daughter named Ziva. She'd be your age."

Ziva nodded to him. "How did you come to be working with the Americans?"

He raised an eyebrow and asked, "How did you come to be working with NCIS?"

"A joint operation into a terrorist operation that led to my becoming a special liaison," she said. "And you still have not answered my question."

"Director David does not believe in what I do, and ended the program with which I was working when he took over the agency. The Americans offered me a place on Team 13 that did not involve my daughter becoming an agent," he told her.

"Do I detect a rebuke?"

"Not directed at you, Agent David," he said.

"What is it that you do that my father does not believe in?"

"My team deals with situations that even Mossad Special Operations is not equipped for" he told her.

"You said Zahid," Ziva asked. "Do you mean Muhammad Abdul Zahid, Bin Ladin's right hand man in Afghanistan?"

"Right hand man and number one son-in-law," Bin Solis told her.

"And you captured him how?"

"With a blonde, a fishing pole, and right right cross," he replied.

"Commander Northmore," Ziva said.

"Was the blonde," Bin Solis said. "I was the fishing pole, and Commander Greenbough was the right cross. We are a very effective team."

"Where were you when the exchange happened?" she asked.

"I was having breakfast with my daughter and her friends at Denny's. It is her birthday today," Bin Solis said.

"And Commanders Greenbough and Northmore?"

"Most likely at Commander Greenbough's residence in Georgetown," he said. "At least that's where both of their cars were parked when I left my home this morning."

"Commander Greenbough is Commander Northmore's fiance then?"

"Yes," Bin Solis told her.

"And how does that affect your team?" she asked.

"It doesn't," he replied. "Their relationship on duty is always professional."

"Can anyone else corroborate their presence at his residence?"

"Mrs. Chatterley, the nosey neighbor across the street probably could. She has a better intelligence network than your father. I think she has the whole neighborhood wired," Bin Solis told her. "When we moved in, she actually presented us with a schedule of how many times the paperboy and the mailman had been late in the previous month."

"Then you live on base housing?"

"No, we lived on base housing right next to each other when we were at our previous duty-station. When the team was moved here, we chose to purchase homes adjacent to one another again."

"What can you tell me about the leak in the FBI team?"

"We knew it was on Bravo Team."

"How did you discover it?"

"Commander Northmore is very good at ferretting out secrets. When intelligence sources suggested that an infiltration expert had been recently hired by Al Quaeda, she began to snoop around. That was when she discovered that someone in the FBI had been compromised. We just didn't know who."

"So that was when you decided to run a bait shop?" Ziva said.

Bin Solis smiled, "Yes."

"What?"

"Bait and switch, Officer David," he said.

"English is not a logical language," she said with a rueful smile.

"No it is not. But the Americans are our only real ally. Perhaps your father should be reminded of that."

"My father is not under investigation here," she said.

He simply smiled. "Very well. If there are no other questions Officer David, here is my contact information." He handed her his card.

Gibbs looked around the chaos in the room as Ducky went to work on the bodies. "Cause of death, Ducky?"

Ducky looked up from the young marine he was examining and said, "From the look of this young man, his neck has been snapped- professionally." He pointed to the FBI agent lying across the table, "From the general appearance of that one, he's had his trachea crushed with a single blow. That one," the ME pointed toward another marine, "appears to have had his skull separated from his spinal cord." He looked up at Gibbs and said, "Jethro, whoever did this had martial skills that made Ari look like a beginner. It reminds me of an affair in which I was involved in my youth. I was in Hong Kong and...,"

"Duck, time of death?" Jethro asked.

"Around 0700 this morning. I suspect that if the time stamp on that film is off by more than half an hour from that you have a problem Jethro."

"Thanks, Duck." Jethro patted him on the shoulder and went over to where Admiral Storm had returned.

Doctor Mallard turned back to Jimmy and said, "Like I was saying, I was in Hong Kong...,"

"Special Agent Gibbs," the Admiral said. "I have one other problem I would like your help with."

"Just one?" Jethro asked.

The admiral smiled and said, "Just one, that is unless you're an expert in dealing with teen age boys."

"Sorry, can't help you there," he said. He smiled at her, "What's your problem?"

"I've got an Agent Fornell in sick bay getting his hand patched up."

"What's wrong with his hand?" Gibbs asked.

"Commander Northmore sliced it opened. She wanted to shoot him, but Colonel Bin Solis and Commander Greenbough talked her out of it."

"You should have let her," Jethro said.

"I know, but then there would be all this paperwork...," the Admiral smiled at him.

Gibbs chuckled and asked, "Why did Commander Northmore attack Agent Fornell?"

"He called her mouthy limey bitch and grabbed her arm," Admiral Storm said. "She reacted instinctively. Actually, I think she acted to keep Commander Greenbough from ripping him in half."

"That sounds like Fornell," Gibbs said.

"I'll shoot him," Ducky said from across the room.

"Is she really your neice?" Gibbs asked.

"No, no. Her uncle, who raised her, is an old friend of mine. I watched her grow up from about the time she was ten," Ducky said. "She _is_ a very close friend however Jethro."

Gibbs nodded to him and said, "Understood." He turned back to the Admiral and said, "If you'll take me to Agent Fornell, I'll see what I can do."

"Northmore says that she won't press charges for assault if he doesn't," Storm told him "To be honest, if you could get him to drop the matter, it would be better for everyone all around. Northmore has enough connections that if he presses the issue, she could make life _very _ difficult for him."

"Really?" Gibbs asked.

Several moments later, he was escorted into sick bay where a corpsman was wrapping up Fornell's hand. "Gibbs! What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Evidently saving your ass," Gibbs said.

Fornell looked down at his hand and said, "Girl's got spunk."

"You called her a limey bitch," Gibbs said. "You're lucky she didn't put it through your head."

"She's holding out on me Gibbs. Her and her whole team. They know who killed my men and I intend to find out." He stopped and gave Gibbs a long look, "This is an FBI investigation."

"Not any more, Tobias. I've got five dead marines, and one navy lieutenant that may not make it. I"ll share, but don't fight me over this one."

Tobias started to reply but his phone rang. He fumbled to open it but the obvious numbness in his hand made that impossible. Gibbs reached out, took the phone and opened it and handed to him. "Go ahead."

Tobias spent the next several minutes saying, "but" a lot and finally ended with "Yes sir, I understand sir." He looked over at Gibbs and said, "That was my director. He got a call from the JCoS. This one is yours; but I want in the loop."

"You lost good men, Tobias. I'll play fair with you. What can you tell me about this Team 13?"

"Their so black box that not even the DHS messes with them. They're damn good at their jobs, but they only answer to the DIA," Tobias said.

"DIA? I thought they only dealt with documents," Jethro said.

"So did I." He looked around at the room and then said, "Remember that case in Bangledesh?"

Jethro raised an eyebrow and said, "Yeah."

"I think they work for them."

"Tobias, that is not something I wanted hear. That is not something I want my team involved with."

"Don't I know, Jethro. Don't I know it."

Several hours later, the team was standing in Abby's lab looking at the computer screen. "The security on this tape is so high, that Director Vance had to promise that it would not leave this room," Abby said. "I'm not sure I understand everything that is going on here."

"What do you mean, Abby?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, from the tape McGee brought back, it looks like the assassin was already in the room, but nobody noticed him until he struck." She touched a series of keys and the tape began to play. "You can see here where Corporal Stevens seems to sense something." Suddenly a black garbed figure launched himself from under the camera's angle. Everyone in the room seemed to be moving in slow motion except for the assassin. In a flash, Corporal Steven's was falling, his neck snapped and the figure was bouncing off the wall behind him. A quick knife hand to the throat of the FBI next to the corporal who began to fall backwards over the table grasping at his crushed wind pipe, and the figure literally cartwheeled over his body to land behind the marine on the other side of the fake Zahid.

Again, with lightning fast reactions, the figure spun and drove an elbow into the base of the marine's skull. By now the other marines were trying to bring their weapons to bear on the figure, but he always seemed to keep a marine, the fake Zahid or an agent between them and him. He drove a vicious heel kick into the temple of the marine on the opposite side of Zahid and then slipped under to table.

Sweeping the legs out from under the gunnery sergeant leading the detail, he twisted his body to deliver a nasty heel strike to the gunny's jaw and then a quick kick to the neck snapping it. Rolling across the floor, he brought down the last marine and FBI agent in a pile of arms and legs. As the FBI agent tried to draw his weapon, the form kipped to his feet, and brought his right foot around in a vicious round house kick that snapped the agent's wrist. Then he brought the same foot around in an axe kick to the bridge of his nose, quickly drew back and kicked him in the nostrils.

Now only the marine at the door, the lieutenant, and the fake Zahid were still moving. The marine tried to draw a bead on the quickly moving form but he ducked under the weapon drove the heel of his hand directly into the marine's chest. As the leatherneck fell, blood began to flow from the corner of his mouth.

The Browning barked three times; three solid center mass shots slammed into the attacker, but he kept coming. Three more quick shots two went wide, the third struck him dead in the head, but he kept coming. Before the lieutenant's clip left the butt of his gun, the figure was on him. A right cross, to the face followed by an impossibly fast spinning back kick to the side of the head sent the lieutenant slamming into the wall behind him. There was the audible snap of his leg twisted under the force of the blow. As the lieutentant fell, his hand reached out and pulled the lever on the alarm.

Then the figure slowed, and looked over at the fake Zahid. "You are not who I came for," he said in a cold voice.

"I don't...," the undercover officer never got to finish his sentence. The figure lashed out with both hands, one grabbing him by the jaw, and the other by the back of the head. A quick twisting of those deadly appendages and the FBI undercover agent fell to the ground.

The figure stopped and looked up at the camera. Gibbs could see the smile on his face under the mask he wore. He could see amusement in his cold dead eyes as he walked under the camera and out of sight.

"Can you slow that down any more, Abby?" Ziva asked.

"It's already at one quarter speed," McGee said.

"Nobody is that fast," Tony commented looking at the screen. His eyebrows narrowed as he tried to make something out. "Can you bring this in clearer?" he asked.

"What?" McGee replied.

"This," Tony pointed to a red mark on the shoulder of the attacker's black body suit.

A few quick key taps later, and the square outlined by the cursor expanded and zoomed in. A stylized red cut could be seen sewn onto the body suit. It looked like it was just beginning to bleed down the arm.

"Some kind of insignia?" McGee asked.

Gibbs shook his head and asked, "Has anyone else seen this?"

"Just us," Abby said.

"You are not to discuss this with anyone else. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Boss," McGee said confused.

"McGee, I want you to do a computer search of the NSA's files."

"Sure Boss, what am I looking for? But it'll take a few days to get the clearance."

"You won't be getting clearance."

"But how then..., oh, than that'll take a couple of hours," McGee said carefully. "What am I looking for?"

"An assassin code-named Twilight."

"Twilight is a myth, Gibbs," Ziva said.

Gibbs turned and pointed to the screen. "Then explain that."

"Someone wanting to capitalize on the myth?" Ziva said.

"I hope you're right, Officer David. I hope you're right." He left the room.

"Twilight?" DiNozzo asked.

Ziva shook her head, "He's a mythical assassin that appeared on the scene in the late seventies. Supposedly he only takes impossible jobs. Some have claimed that he's dead."

"He sure looked alive to me," McGee said.

"No, I mean, they claim that he's a walking corpse," Ziva said.

Everyone turned to look at Abby. "What?" she asked. "Vampires are real."

"Not walking dead vampires, Abby," McGee said.

Abby shrugged and said, "You go right on believing that Timothy."


	2. Act 2

"I would like to ask you a few questions about what happened at the base, Lieutenant Giles," Officer David said.

The lieutenant had regained consciousness in the middle of the night. He had been placed under heavy security and nobody had been in to see him since NCIS had been informed of his improvement. "May I see some ID please?" the little man asked.

Ziva and Gibbs exchanged glances and both produced the requested documents. "Mossad _and_ NCIS?" he asked.

"We've reviewed the tape of the attack in the holding cell. You were the only person to get off a shot. Care to explain that?" Gibbs asked.

"Too many reruns of Gunsmoke as a kid," the man said. He pushed himself up in his bed and winced at the pain before saying, "Did I do something wrong, Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs shook his head, "No. Did you hit him?"

"At least three times," Lieutenant Giles told him. "Two center mass and one above the right eye." He looked down at the leg and said, "Fat lot of good that did though."

"You're alive, Lieutenant," Gibbs said. "I don't think you would be if you hadn't slowed him down. We saw the tape. What else can you tell us about him?"

Giles shook his head and said, "Not much. He just seemed to appear in the room, out of the corner. I swept that room myself and there was nobody there. It was like he walked through the wall or something."

"Could you have been mistaken?" Gibbs asked.

Giles gave Gibbs a look that spoke volumes of what he thought of that suggestion. "Even if I_ had_ missed something, there is no way Gunnery Sergeant Malkav would have," Giles said. "He just appeared out of nowhere."

"Do you have any idea how he did that?" Ziva asked.

"No idea," Giles said.

"You are assigned to Team 13?" Ziva asked.

Giles nodded his head and said, "I'm a supply officer."

"Supply officer?" Gibbs asked. "Isn't the kind of duty you were pulling a little out of your normal duties."

Giles chuckled and said, "Agent Gibbs, everybody on Team 13 is so cross-trained that that our service records look like road map of DC. We handle as much of our own duties as we can. I'm also fully qualified to handle security and prisoner exchanges."

"I'd like to see the record for that training," Gibbs said.

"Talk to Admiral Storm," Giles told her.

"What can you tell me about the team's suspicions of a leak?" Ziva switched tactics.

"You'd have to talk to the Admiral, the Colonel, or either of the Commanders about that," Giles said. "I don't know. I was just told that there was the possibility of a break out and that I should be on the alert."

"Okay, that's all for now," Gibbs said. He pulled a card from his wallet left it on the table and said, "If you think of anything, please call me."

Leaving the room and walking out of the building Ziva looked at Gibbs and said. "He was not telling us everything he knows."

"No he wasn't," Gibbs said.

"You knew?" Ziva asked.

"Uh huh," Gibbs said.

"Why didn't you push him?" Ziva asked as they got into the government issue car.

"Because it wouldn't have done any good, and what he knows, I don't think will do us much good." Buckling his seatbelt he said, "But I have an idea of someone to ask. I want you to talk to Commanders Greenbough and Northmore. See what you can get out of them."

~*~

"Boss, something doesn't add up here," DiNozzo said as Gibbs entered the bullpen.

"What you got DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"I pulled Commander Greenbough's file," he said. "I'm still waiting on Commander Northmore's and Colonel Bin Solis' from MI-6 and Mossad."

"And?" Gibbs asked with his usual impatience.

"How old would you say Commander Greenbough is?" DiNozzo asked.

"He's a naval commander, that would suggest at least his mid thirties at the earliest, most probably in his early forties."

"But he looks like a twenty something," DiNozzo said.

"How old DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Forty six," DiNozzo said. "He graduated from the Naval Academy in eighty six and has been on one hot spot assignment after another for the past twenty-three years." He put the record up on the plasma. The image displayed there showed the man had not changed very much in twenty-three years of naval service.

"Bangladesh," Gibbs said under his breath. "I'll be in the director's office." He took off up the stairs.

DiNozzo looked over at McGee and said, "Something is not adding up, here McGeek."

"Don't I know it, Tony," McGee said without looking up.

"What'cha' got Timmy-me-boy?" DiNozzo said as he zeroed in on the probie's desk.

Tim shook his head and said, "Ever heard of the DNA or the DSI?"

"No, what is it?"

"I don't know," McGee said. "But all of the files on Twilight, even the ones at the NSA and the CIA have been handed over to something with those designations. I can't find anything about them anywhere."

"That doesn't make any sense," Tony as he peered over McGee's shoulder.

"No it doesn't. I'm going down to talk to Abbey," McGee said.

"What about?" Tony asked.

"Vampires," McGee said.

~*~

The house was in a _very_ upscale neighborhood of Georgetown. It was the kind of place where Senators and Congressmen lived, not naval commanders. Ziva rang the bell on the large Georgian home and waited. To her surprise it was Commander Northmore dressed in blue skirt and white blouse who answered. She smiled at Ziva and said, "Officer David. Please come in. Trey and I were about to sit down for a cup of coffee. Would you like to join us?"

"Thank you." Ziva said as she followed the petite blonde into the home. As they entered the main living room, Ziva noticed that it had a very old world feel to it. Much of the furniture was heavy and antique, some of it showed craftsmanship that had long since passed from the general public. She noticed in one corner was a table with a small sledgehammer and several Germanic looking statues and a wooden bowl on it. Hanging above the table was a painting of a beautiful blonde woman in a cloak of feathers. Ziva noticed the woman's ears were pointed.

Commander Northmore smiled at her and gestured to where a large oaken table was sitting in the with a coffee service. In kitchen she could hear someone moving around. "Welcome to my home, Officer David," Commander Greenbough's voice called. He came into the dining area wearing a pair of jeans and a green polo shirt that was stretched taught across his massive chest. He was carrying a small tray of smoked fish.

"You are most kind," Ziva said as Commander Northmore poured them all coffee, handing Ziva hers first. She got the feeling that there was some kind of meaning to the coffee and the fact that it was Commander Northmore handing it to her but she could not fathom what it was. Sipping it, she found it to be quite good, and very strong. "I would like to ask you a few more questions about the incident at the base."

"We'll answer what we can," Commander Greenbough said sitting down at the table. She noticed a small gold stylized hammer on a chain around his neck. A matching one lay in the cleft of Commander Northmore's bosom.

"We've gone over the tape of the shootout at the base and still cannot determine how the assassin got onto base, much less in the room. We were wondering if you had any ideas."

The two looked at each other and then at her. "Ideas yes, but not helpful."

"I'm open to almost any suggestions at this point," Ziva said.

"He teleported," Commander Greenbough said.

"Teleported?" Ziva asked. "Like in Star Trek?"

"Teleported like in the X-Men," Commander Greenbough said.

"I don't understand the reference," Ziva said.

"I told you that it would not be helpful, Officer David," Commander Greenbough said.

"Exactly what is it that you and Colonel Bin Solis do that Mossad does not believe in?" Ziva asked..

"We hunt spooks," Commander Greenbough said.

"Spooks?" Ziva asked.

"Things that go bump in the night. Vampires, werewolves, and teleporting dead assassins," the commander said sipping his coffee.

"You are not being helpful, Commander," Ziva said.

"I'm being honest, Officer David," the commander replied getting up from his chair. He looked out at the fading light turning his broad back to Ziva as he spoke. "There are things out there that as the song says, can make a grown man die of fright, things that prey on humanity in the night. When they bump in the night, it's our job to bump back. I understand that you are skeptical, but it's what we do. We deal with the nocturnal threats."

"And how did that get you involved in this mission?" Ziva asked. "I mean if you deal with these so-called nocturnal threats, how did you end up on this kind of assignment?"

"Because what we do also applies to counter terrorism. We can bring the fight to the followers of the desert death god, no matter where they hide," he said rather fiercely.

"I did not expect bigotry from a Commander in the US Navy," Ziva told him.

"To hate the enemy is not bigotry, Officer David, it's common sense," he told her.

"Islam is not your enemy," she said. "Its radicals are."

"Bullshit," he said softly. "If it were simply a case of a peaceful religion being hijacked by radicals, then all those peaceful muslims would have stood up and took the radicals down themselves. Their silence, their lack of action, points to a sympathy for the radicals' cause." He turned and gave her a long look, "I have little patience for political correctness, Officer David. I will answer your questions with brutal honesty. If you don't like it, that is not my problem."

"You insult your own religion as well as my own by referring to the Islamic god as a desert death god," she said.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "No, I don't. As far as I am concerned it is a death cult that came out of the desert and seeks to destroy civilization. That is my opinion, and it's based on some pretty hard experiences. As for my God or my case Gods, I don't follow any incarnation of that particular deity." He stopped and stared at her, "I am however interested in helping find out who or what killed those marines and hospitalized Lieutenant Giles. He is a valued colleague and a friend. Now what are you questions Officer David?"

Ziva was taken aback by the intensity of the man's convictions and his stare. Suddenly she felt like a rabbit under the hawk's gaze. "Exactly where were you when the attack occurred?"

"I was at home," he told her and then glanced over at the petite woman at his side. "Commander Northmore can vouch for that."

"Were you here the whole night Commander?"

"Yes," they answered in unison. Ziva understood the slight blush that rose in both of their complexions. She smiled at it. "Do you have any idea who might have attacked base?"

"We have some ideas, but I'm afraid that you won't consider them very serious, Officer David," Greenbough said.

"Oh?" she asked. "Who?"

"Twilight," he told her.

"The fabled assassin?" David told commented. "You're right, I don't take that very serious. The only things that go bump in the night, are living people. Not vampires, werewolves, or walking zombie assassins."

"If you say so, Officer David," Commander Northmore said sipping her coffee.

"You are unconcerned with my skepticism?" she asked.

"I hope that you are able to live a long and happy life and never have that belief put to the test, Officer David," the small blonde said. "I serious doubt that will be the case, but I hope that it is."

"Thank you for your time," Ziva said closing her notebook feeling somewhat out of sorts. The interview had not gone as she'd expected it. As she left she once again glanced over at the table in the corner and wondered about what she'd seen.


End file.
